they could have had a more popular message about cutting deficit spending, right? >> the truth is they would have been a lot better off taking the deal that boehner was negotiating with president obama way back when. it was a better deal all the way around. they missed that moment. but i think the real thing is who pays the price. the people who are going to pay the price are the americans, the middle class. this is crazy. it's nuts to be putting us through this. >> maria, all the focus on tax cuts. but the revenue from increasing the taxes on the wealthy will barely make a debt in the deficit to say nothing of the trillions in debt we're talking about. is this just a symbolic fight that the president is determined to win off his election? >> it's not symbolic. there will be money raised if the tax cuts for the top 2% are left to expire. but let me just bring up a point. no democrat and certainly not this president has said there should be no spending cuts. on the contrary this president has put on the table quite an extraordinary amount of spending cuts to the cha